If you’re looking to fit in a break from social media discourse in the near future, it’s looking like May is going to be a good time for it. That’s because ZA/UM’s followup to Disco Elysium, Zero Parades: For Dead Spies, is launching around then. And what better a game to post about than one which has a studio embroiled in a whole heap of mess.
Zero Parades is very specifically launching on May 21st, so you’ve got almost two solid months to prepare yourself for the serial posting that is sure to take place around then. GameSpot got the exclusive reveal on this one, also confirming that at launch it will be a PC exclusive to start. Lucky us! The RPG will include English voice acting, and text localisation will be available in English, Russian, Spanish (Latin America), Simplified Chinese, and German, with plans for Traditional Chinese, French, Italian, Korean, Brazilian Portuguese, and Turkish. And for those of you that like to play your games horizontally, it’s also Steam Deck verified.
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Our own Mark, who desperately wanted me to insult him over his hyperlinking pedantry, but I won’t because we are kindred spirits, went hands-on with the game last month and had this to say: “Throughout the entire thing, however, I’ve felt the most mixed of feelings. At times, Zero Parades feels very much like a cynical imitator wearing Disco Elysium’s skin. At times, it feels like a game that could have the potential to excel in similar ways to its beloved predecessor or offer enough of a new direction to step out of the shadow of ZA/UM’s substantial baggage. It’s Schrodinger’s Disco, and I want to see more of it before making a definitive judgement as to its fate.”
To continue Mark’s metaphor, May is the time to open the box and have a gander at that old cat. I have no stake in the quality of Zero Parades, but I do expect that no matter how good it does or does not end up being, there will be a deep fog that hangs around it that will make it a bit impossible to navigate. How do we talk about a game made by a studio who may be run by businessy types we don’t like, filled with people trying to move out from a shadow they didn’t cast? I don’t think that we’ll find a satisfying answer. Anyway! Off I pop to book my holiday so I won’t have to think about it.
